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Love Songs of the Humpback Whale 且听鲸鱼唱情歌

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Musicians from the West have long been borrowing songs and musical motifs from the East, and vice versa. It’s no different with the giant singing humpback whale. While these marine musicians develop distinctive songs according to their region, it turned out they are willing to imitate each other when the chance arises.

西方的音乐家长期以来借用东方的歌曲及音乐主题，反之亦然。巨大的座头鲸也一样。当这些海洋音乐家根据地域发展出独特的歌曲时，结果证明只要一有机会，牠们会乐于模仿彼此。

Such a chance did arise recently when two wandering humpbacks from the Indian Ocean joined a group of eighty whales off the Northeast coast of America. Over the course of the next two years, the western whales learned new songs from their two eastern friends and even began to prefer them to their own.

最近，这样的机会的确发生了。有两只来自印度洋的流浪座头鲸加入美国东北岸外海一群由八十头鲸鱼组成的团体。在接下来两年内，西方鲸鱼从牠们的两位东方友人那儿学了新歌，甚至于开始喜欢起那些新歌甚于自己的歌。

Though whale songs don’t sound much like human love songs, they have some similarities in their structure: they follow a complex “Russian Doll” system involving repetition of patterns. A song can last up to thirty minutes and is repeated over and over again for hours, or even days.

虽然鲸鱼歌曲听起来跟人类的情歌不太像，但其结构还是有些相似处：它们遵循有着重复模式的复杂「俄罗斯娃娃」系统。一首歌可长达三十分钟，并一再重复达数小时，甚至数天之久。

The discovery that whales can imitate each other is causing much excitement. Scientists already know that whale songs can evolve over time, but this is the first known case of an outright replacement of one song with another. The most likely explanation is that the males assumed the females (for whom they sing) would be attracted by the novelty of the new songs. Humpbacks may not yet have a constantly changing Top 10, but it seems they don’t want to listen to the same old standards any more than we do.

这项鲸鱼会彼此模仿的发现，令人非常兴奋。科学家们已知鲸鱼歌曲会随着时间演变，但这是首次发现一首歌被另一首歌完全取代。最有可能的解释是，雄鲸认为雌鲸（牠们唱歌的对象）会被新歌曲的新鲜感吸引。座头鲸或许还没有善变的流行歌曲排行榜，但牠们似乎跟我们一样不想听相同的老歌。

－By Amy Lovestrand

Vocabulary

distinctive [dɪˋstɪŋktɪv] adj. 有特色的，特殊的

similarity [͵sɪməˋlærətɪ] n. 类似；相似

complex [ˋkɑmplɛks] adj. 复杂的

repetition [͵rɛpɪˋtɪʃən] n. 重复

evolve [ɪˋvɑlv] v. 发展；进化

assume [əˋsjum] v. 以为；假定为；（想当然地）认为

More Information

motif [moˋtif] n.（文学、艺术作品的）主题

vice versa【拉】反之亦然

outright [ˋaʊtˋraɪt] adv. 完全，全然

novelty [ˋnɑv!tɪ] n. 新奇; 新颖的事物

standard: [ˋstændɚd] n. 流行乐曲 Music A composition that is continually used in repertoires.

Reading Questions 

1.   Which of the following is characteristic of whales?

A.  No matter where they are, they always sing the same songs.

B.  Male whales tend to use new songs to attract females.

C.  Almost all whales refuse to imitate each other.

D.  The songs they sing usually last for hours and are never repeated in a day.

2.   What happened to the two wandering whales from the Indian Ocean?

A.  They joined a group of eight whales in the Pacific Ocean.

B.  Even after two years, they still showed a preference for their own songs.

C.  They were unwilling to make themselves accustomed to the new group life.

D.  They taught their western friends some new songs.

3.   What does the author claim about whale songs?

A.  The repetition of pattern plays a very important role in the songs.

B.  Human love songs and those of whales do not sound very different.

C.  It is next to impossible for whale songs to make any change over time.

D.  They show too much simplicity in their structure to interest people.

next to:  almost; practically

Answer